What is the ruling on smoking? And the ruling on cultivating it? And the ruling on selling it? (And the meaning of the hadith: “There is no harm and no reciprocating harm”)

The questioner: Well, my Shaykh, regarding this, there is a lot of debate, especially among the lay brothers in terms of...

Another questioner: ... my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: The ruling, yes, on smoking, what is it, is it forbidden or disliked? And the ruling on cultivating it and the ruling on selling it?

The Shaykh: Yes, this is also a matter in which the ruling must be known. The Shari'ah does not distinguish between cultivating tobacco and cultivating hashish, a narcotic, but people are more aware of the harm of hashish than of the harm of tobacco, otherwise they are under the same ruling. In fact, tobacco may exceed hashish in its harm. First, it has become known to everyone, even the general public, due to the ease of access to knowledge through media such as radio, television, and the like, as well as magazines and newspapers, where it has become known that one of the strongest causes of the malignant disease cancer is tobacco. Islam, as we know, has not left anything without explaining it clearly for everything. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This hadith is among the concise words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), two words , what does “no harm” mean? And what does “no reciprocating harm” mean? “No harm” means it is not permissible for you to consume something that harms yourself, and “no reciprocating harm” means it is not permissible for you to consume something that harms others. The harm is to the self and the reciprocating harm is to the other. Tobacco combines both harms. Tobacco combines both harms, and from this perspective, its harm may be more severe than that of intoxicants. Why? Because the drunkard, when he drinks intoxicants, without a doubt harms his own state; it is sufficient that he has disobeyed Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , , but when the drinker drinks, nothing of his harm reaches his wife, his son, his friend, his companion, and so on, unlike tobacco...

The questioner: The drinker of intoxicants.

The Shaykh: Yes, the drinker of intoxicants, when he drinks intoxicants, his neighbor is not harmed by his drinking of intoxicants; he is not harmed by the intoxicants he drank. But when the smoker smokes, he harms his neighbors with the tobacco.

The questioner: On the contrary, you start coughing.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: I am speaking on the contrary, you start coughing.

The Shaykh: Ah, do you see how? It came from the smell, the effect of tobacco. Excuse me, even if I have not finished the hadith...

The questioner: Please, please.

The Shaykh: If...

The questioner: You thought that you...

The Shaykh: If you want, no problem, here...

The questioner: You thought that you had finished with it.

The Shaykh: No, where are you still? You want to prolong this on me a lot. My hadith is still long. We said that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And the harm of tobacco to the smoker, no one denies it, even those afflicted with it know its harm more than others. But that this smoker of tobacco harms others, this was not known medically until recent days. Why? Because now there is news that this tobacco, which the smoker exhales, fills the air with this nicotine substance, which saturates the air that every person needs to inhale, and it enters the body of those who do not smoke tobacco, harming them with this tobacco. So the harmful contagion has transferred from the smoker who put tobacco into his body from one side and expelled it into the general air, and this tobacco transferred to the others. These people are harmed by this tobacco in their lungs. This is a medical harm discovered recently. But who denies that those who do not smoke tobacco are not harmed by its smell without knowing that this harms them internally? There is no one among us whom Allah has protected from smoking tobacco who does not feel annoyed when he smells it. In fact, he feels annoyed if he sits and a smoker passes by him. We enter the mosques, Allahu Akbar, and a person comes, and we are almost about to explode while we are praying from his smell. So his whole body, what is it? The foul smell of tobacco. So its harm extends to others. Thus, the hadith covers both its parts: no harm to oneself and no harm to others. Harm to oneself and harm to others. Here is a lesson for whoever takes heed. Garlic and onions, is there anyone who does not eat them? Our colleges, why? Because Allah has made them lawful. In fact, medically it is now known that a substance is extracted from garlic and onions that is used as a treatment for some diseases in pills. Therefore, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has made them lawful, but the smell of garlic and onions is foul, despite their bodily benefit and their foul smell. What did he (peace and blessings be upon him) say? ..

The questioner: I mean onions and garlic.

The Shaykh: Onions and garlic.

The questioner: Allah.

The Shaykh: Ah, what is the difference between onions and garlic, which contain good and benefit, and from which no righteous or wicked person is safe from eating them, because they are lawful, merely for the foul smell? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says: Beware of eating garlic and onions before attending the prayer. Because if you attend the mosque while you have eaten garlic and onions, you are not only going to harm your fellow humans, you are also going to harm the angels who share your presence in the mosque

The questioner : There is no god but Allah.

The Shaykh: This is garlic and onions. And it is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he entered the mosque of the Prophet in Madinah one day and smelled the smell of garlic from a person, so he ordered him to be taken out to al-Baqi', the cemetery. He ordered him to be taken out, not to the road, but to the cemetery, as if he (peace and blessings be upon him) is practically indicating that this Muslim who attends the mosque and has eaten this plant with the foul smell is not fit to live among the living. Take him out to the cemeteries. And we return to say that garlic and onions are beneficial. So if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were in our time, or if tobacco were in his time, what would he have said? He would have said more than what he said regarding garlic and onions, because garlic and onions have good, food, eating, squeezing, and so on, and the extraction of some medicines.